Screamfest for Christina

Teen dream Aguilera draws 13,000 to ACC

TORONTO -- Around the time that blues legend Taj Mahal was dazzling a few thousand people at Harbourfront with his evocative guitar playing, a hugely popular teen pop star was singing the blues to a crowd whose music vocabulary doesn't include the word.

 The pop star was 19-year-old Christina Aguilera -- that's her posing provocatively on the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone -- and she delivered a sweet reading of Etta James' At Last.

 "I love singing the blues," Aguilera confessed to her adoring fans, who waved fluorescent green wands and screamed all night. "Etta James is one of my favourite blues singers, and this is one of my favourite songs of hers."

 Accompanied only by piano, Aguilera invested every ounce of soul she could muster into the song, and you couldn't help but conclude that the object of her affection would've been impressed with the tribute.

 Of course, bouncy, R&B-flavoured pop is what Aguilera's known for singing, and she served up oodles of it at her hour-long show in front of about 13,000 fans at the Air Canada Centre last night.

 While most artists wait 'til the end of the gig to deliver "the big hit," Aguilera, whose first concert appearance here was also the first of eight Canadian dates, dispensed with it immediately.

 The gathering was bathed in blue light, the sampled sound of a sitar filled the venue, and Aguilera's six dancers slowly appeared on stage.

 Sporting a white jumpsuit, cut up to reveal her midriff, Aguilera materialized and kicked into Genie In A Bottle, off her self-titled 1999 debut, that has sold over seven million copies worldwide.

 Somebody's Somebody followed, and by the third song, So Emotional, she was down to hip-hugging white pants and a halter top.

 "Ohmigosh! I feel good! How you feel?"

 Scream.

 "Thanks for helping my dream come true, being here on stage and headlining my first tour (PsykoBlast -- which featured The Moffatts, soulDecision, and McMaster & James)."

 Louder scream.

 Save for the ballads, during which she sat on a stool or paced slowly at the centre of the stage, Aguilera was a whirlwind of energy, wiggling her hips, strutting and engaging in some dirty dancing.

 And it's during ballads like I Turn To You and Reflection that her voice really shone. It's big, soulful and boasts an impressive range. But, while Aguilera says she'd rather let her music speak for itself, you can't help but draw parallels to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

 Like Houston and Carey, Aguilera has a penchant for embellishing every note and engaging in vocal histrionics that grate on the nerves.

 It's a small quibble and one that might disappear if Aguilera gets rid of intrusive, dictatorial producers and goes for a "fresher, edgier twist" that she's been promising in her interviews.